Wife of detained Mexican national speaks out

The story of the Mexican national from Tabasco who was arrested inside the Corozal Free Zone on a gun and ammunition as well as possession of counterfeit currency charge continues to unravel. Jose Luis Robles Beltran was found with a point twenty-five caliber pistol and nine live rounds of ammunition. While detained, he was also charged for possessing one thousand eight hundred dollars in counterfeit currency. Robles Beltran’s detention was curious, as within twenty-four hours he was charged, sentenced to two years in prison, granted an appeal and offered bail on the gun and ammunition charges. But the counterfeit charge kept him in custody. Magistrate Clive Lino ordered his release on the grounds that there is no US agency to confirm if the currency was fraudulent. On Friday the Director of Public Prosecutions will be going to the Supreme Court to attempt to review the Magistrate’s decision on the two charges. But Robles’ wife traveled to Corozal late this evening and told News Five that he is innocent of the charges. Julia Rodriguez said that they are legitimate businesspeople who buy in the zone and the counterfeit money may actually belong to a store from which they made a purchase.

“We are merchants who came to the Corozal Free Zone to buy clothes, shoes, perfumes for our business in Mexico. We have been coming to Belize for the past five years. When we came to buy at a store we had a problem. The salesperson told us that he needed change for the US dollars that we paid him. I don’t know if he is the owner or just an employee. He also took with him money from the store to change at the bank. He shouldn’t have done this. Ten minutes later the police arrived saying that the bank had reported the money to be counterfeit. We are honest people and we don’t associate ourselves with delinquents. The twenty-thousand dollars are legal. The bank here in Belize checked it and they were not fake. They are claiming that $1800 is counterfeit. So why the rest of our money is legal? I have a receipt for the money that the bank gave me. I haven’t seen any money that is they say is counterfeit. No evidence of it. They don’t want me to see my husband. He was first sent to Hattieville prison but we appealed the decision. We got signatures from people from Belize that made it possible for us to stay in Belize without any problems. But the police interrogated them and threatened them if they don’t retract their signatures. In Corozal we don’t know anybody. The police are treating us bad and we feel sad about this. They wanted us to pay ten thousand dollars so that my husband comes out of jail. But we didn’t want to pay. Yes we did made a mistake by bringing a firearm. My husband is a member of the Mexican military. He has a license for the gun.”

Rodriguez says that the Mexican Consulate is aware of the injustice she believes is being carried out by the Belize Police Department. She said they didn’t know that it was illegal to bring a firearm into the Free Zone. She added that because they travel by road, they had the weapon for their personal protection.

Viewers please note: This Internet newscast is a verbatim transcript of our evening television newscast. Where speakers use Kriol, we attempt to faithfully reproduce the quotes using a standard spelling system.

30 Responses for “Wife of detained Mexican national speaks out”

AND SO!!!! A new chapter have been opened in the case of the Mexican “bandido” and the plot thickens. Hmmmmmmm! very interesting turn of events now that another side of the story have been revealed. Well since I was one of the first to crucify the suspect based on the facts stated in the news, I will be the first to say that this lady’s account of what actualy happened sounds very credible. However, I stand by my convictions that he committed a serious firearm offence in Belize and should be made subject to the rule of the law. Concerning the matter of the money changing hands and the alleged $10,000 bounty to secure his release, These are VERY SERIOUS allegations and stinks of corruption, blackmail, dishonesty and intrigue. People needs to start answering questions because this could turn really ugly. Hmmm!!!!!!!!

Unadulterated BS. What soldier has $22,000.00 in cash? What kind of business are they running & does it make sense that they would get better wholesale prices in Belize when we manufacture almost nothing & Belizeans flock to Chetumal for better prices? Blame the clerk /owner of the store & the bank employees & while you’re at it, Mr. Lino for misleading you or not coordinating your stories about the Americans not being available to confirm whether or not the bills were really counterfeit. The wife just confirmed the bank rejected some of their money. And oops, the gun & ammunition was an oversight, an honest mistake. How much crap will be thrown against the wall before something sticks & they slip away quietly with whatever they came in for.

This Government is a joke,i can’t believe what i am reading.In the year 2011 there still isn’t some type of device with the Belizean law authorities to check the ligitimacy of currencies.So am i to understand that the charges in ref to the money that was found on this idiot won’t stand in court.

What a sad story and did not know it was illegal to bring a firearm in the free zone yeah right, is she really his wife or is she just pretending to be to gain sympathy, maybe she should have brought the children also that way she would get more pity, now who is lying? did not the Mexican officials said that this man is not in the military that story smells like fish, maybe we can do a prisoner trade with Mexico I am sure they are holding some innocent Belizean in their jail. Since they seems to want to make a big deal of this criminal let’s talk about the innocent Belizeans that they have in their prison and I am not talking about the two idiots that were recently arrested over there, Belize is for Belizeans. Remember, My Legacy B 4 My People.

IN THE U.S MEXICAN BORDER ITS DISTINCTLY SAYS NO WEAPONS OR AMMUNITION BEYOND THIS POINT IF U ENTER MEXICO WITH A FIREARM ITS AUTOMATIC 1 YR IN PRISON BEFORE YOUR TRIAL STARTS .SO WHY ARE WE SO LENIENT WHEN THEY COME TO BELIZE WITH WEAPONS LETS GIVE THEM THE SAME TREATMENT

Good for him charge him for the gun even if he has a license its valid for mexico not Belize….when that incident happened at the free zone with las vegas casino all the Belizean security guards were arrested and like 2 of them are still in jail in chetumal for crossing the border with a firearm !!
So lets treat them the same for what they did to us an still do to us every time we go there they harass us for money bc we have a Belizean license plate.

I totally agree with the charges as far as the weapon but to say “how can a soldier have that kinda money is an idiotic and stupid ass comment. Why would it be impossible for then to have $22,000.00? Not everyone in Mexico is living dog ass poor y’all.If you’ve ever been to Chetumal before, it is so much like America.McDonald’s,Sams, the works so don’t pass, stupid comments like that and trying to make people believe that all Mexican;s are living under a stone.I’m offended and i’m black.FYI, The free zone is tax free and is put their for Mexican’s to shop without paying taxes.. Even though Belizeans are not supposed to shop there, a lot of them do and do not pay taxes on their good. Everything have to racist to you damn people.You get on my nerves.What they need to do is to investigate why the hell the bank gave a receipt saying the money is legit and see if the clerk is playing games and lock the fool up because that sounds real suspicious to me.This is the reason why the world is going to the dogs so quickly because there is hardly any honest people left on this earth.If that was my money,i would sure hunt someone down and do some torturing.You people encourage some of the most horrible things then you wonder why things are going wrong.If he is wrong about the gun then let him pay the price but don’t sit there and agree with that nonsense just because they are from another race.So unfair.

The same thing is happening in P.G. the alleged driver and side man who shot up a house and at two off duty police men, have still not been arrested or charged due to a relationship between the Superintendent of police and the Chinese grocer who is involved. blatant corruption.

and how when the Golden Princess Boss and workers got caught da the mexican border!!!!!! no question were ask. they were sentenced fu go jail da mexican territory. Why cant we do the same thing with this mexican!!!!!!! WHICH WAS CAUGHT IN BELIZEAN TERRITORY WITH A FIREARM!!!!!!! PUT HIM DA JAIL..

sabuski has a very good point remember d guys from d casino what they did to them because of chasing a mexican bandido to the border with weapons. give them a taste of their own and that magistrate lock him up with the mexican for selling himself but that is his style not the first time

I went two weeks ago to Chetumal for medical purposes for my 5 year old son and because we did not follow the proper procedures of crossing they turned us back. we are not frequent visitors of the place so we did not really know, when we asked the immigration guy for assistance he got up and chased us outside he said we cannot pass. so it serves them right give them the same bad treatment.

Technically they were not in Belize, according to laws the Boundary Line for Belize is at the Belize Border, the Free Zone is outside of the Belize Border so literally it is no man’s land and Belizean Rules should not apply.

Thank you Islander. Corf, you’re the idiot, crawl out from under your rock, addressing the disparity in enforcement of the law is not racist & common sense should tell you that the Mexican military does not pay well enough for this man to be walking around with $22,000.00 US if we are to believe HIS wife. The richest man in the world is Mexican, we know all Mexicans are not poor. Do you remember why we were having a problem with the banks a month or two ago, MONEY LAUNDERING. If companies in this area are bringing in income inconsistent with their known inventory, it sets off a red flag GET A GRIP BROTHER.

corf, the only person here talking about race is YOU, nobody else! You can say all day how black you consider yourself to be, making ignorant comments does not justify your identity.
A Mexican broke the law in Belize, now he must face the consequences, so stop the blood c….. crying!! Unless you want to do the time for him. Weh yuh sey??

How this mexican military don’t know a little about the law? Common sense can tell you that crossing a firearm across a border is illegal and can get you in deep trouble. Example our fellow Belizeans from Las Vegas that are still in prison in Mexico for this same offence. Give the same treatment to this idiot. The Law is the Law and it must stand. When we go across the mexican border they treat us like dogs or like their @$$ wipes, especially the immigration and the police officers (Perritos). Just give them mordida ($MONEY$) and they are the ones that will behave like dogs (El baile del perrito) and @$$ wipes! When they see a Belizean license plate they will keep an eye on you and harrass you for any simpleness. They are Hungry for us to give them MORDIDA! Mexicanos hambrientos!!

ask Ruben Vargas (from Brodies) how he was treated when he did the same over ten years ago… The US is having MAJOR problems with Mexicans because they want to enter another country and do as they please. COME ON BELIZE, RESPECT YOURSELF! WE NEED TO BE RESPECTED AS A COUNTRY!

@ BZNinCALI, i still believe you’re a damn idiot. You don’t have to have a high paying job to have money. Smart people budget ,save and spend wisely and if you have a dream to one day be somebody,you will work towards that dream. Its ignorant like you that really believe that you have to be doing something illegal to have money.You don’t know how long it probably took these people to save up that kinda money to open up a business so stop being judgemental. i despise people like you. Go get a damn life you ignorant Jackazz.

Listen. Keep our neighbour Mexican lady in custody. The reason is that is the right thing to do. If it was one our ladies do you think she would have been getting out that easy? Hell no. Remember the story of the Officer by the Casino? Miss Mexico must go through the regular process. No exceptions.

Gentle men John is calling us Belizeans hungry and half dead. How dare he, he even says he cares for us because he belongs to an animal group. If it wouldn’t have been for Belizeans Chetumal would not exist.
Eres un ………. John.